Gondola-car body



June 24; 1930. w. E. VAN DORN 1,766,856

. GONDOLA CAR BODY Filed Nov. 12. 1928 3 Sheets-Sheat 1 HIUIIIW IIHIIOOOOOOOOOOOvOOOOOO-OO Edi-711227" Wire/752757 2.707 72 June 24, 1930. w.E. VAN DORN 1,766,856

GONDOLA CAR sow Filed Nov 12. 1928 s Sheets-Sheet 2 June 24, 1930. I w,VAN DORN 1,766,856

GONDOLA CAR BODY Filed Nov. 12, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented June 24,1930 PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM E. VAN DOIRN, OF PASADENA, CALIFORNIAGONDOLA-CAR BODY Application filed November 12, 1928. Serial No.318,848.

The present invention has for its object to produce a metal gondola carbody that shall be comparatively light and yet be strong and rugged andwhich can be made at a lower cost than bodies of equal capacity asheretofore made.

In the ordinary steel gondola car the sides are usually made of fiatmetal sheets having reinforcing braces or struts riveted thereto to givethem the requisite stiffness to resist the lateral thrust of the load inthe car. Thus each side consists of a considerable number of pieces thatmust be riveted together, thus making the cost of manufacture muchgreater than if no such riveting together of parts were necessary.Viewed in one of its aspects, the present invention may be said to havefor its object to make it possible to produce. a gondola car body sidefrom a single plate or sheet, whether it be made in one piece or of anumber of pieces arranged end to end, the material of the wall beingsimply folded to provide the necessary stiifening elements. I Incarrying out my invention, as viewed in one of its aspects, the sidesand ends of the body, are made of metal panelsin the form ofthin platesor heavy sheets that have been folded upon themselves so as to providereinforcing ribs or webs, thus doing away with the need for separatebraces or struts. The shaping of the panels may therefore be effected bya cold process and without stretchingthe metal to reduce itscross-section in the fashioning of the stiffening elements. The .endsofthe side walls, for example, maybe flanged over and secured to themarginal portions of the end walls, thus completing the shell withoutthe use of corner posts or framework. The bottom may be stiffened bymeans ofal lcornparatively light frame to which the lower marginalportions of the end and side walls arefastened, and upon which floorstringers may rest. Thebody is then completed by adding a rim or capwhich overlies the upper edges of the side and end walls. V

The folds in the sidewalls are preferably so located as to producestrengthenmg ribs or webs extending diagonally from top to to the other.

bottom, adjacent ribs or webs being inclined in opposite. directions. Inother words, by placing these ribs or webs so that the upper end of eachis near the upper end of an ad jacent rib or web while the lower end isnear the lower end of another adjacent rib or web, there will be anarrangement of ribs or webs zigzagging throughout the length of thesheet or side to give a truss-like effect.

Therefore, viewed in one of its aspects, the

"present invention may be said to have for its the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is an end view of, a car body made n accordance with myinvention Flg.

'2 is a transverse vertical section; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal verticalsection; Fig. 4 is a side elevation of one end of the body;'Fig. 5

is a View of the body partly in top plan and partly in section, thesection being on line 55 of Fig. 3; Fig. G is asection on line 6 6 of-Fig. 1; and Fig.7 is a section, on an enlarged scale, online 7-7 of Fig.1.

Referring to the drawings, A and B represent the two end Walls and C andD the two side walls of a gondola car body "of any usual or preferredsize and shape, These walls are made of light plates or heavy sheets andeach may consistof one or more pieces, as desired. 'In the arrangementshown, each end wall is in the form of a single sheet or panel, bent orfolded to produce three parallel trough-like ribs l extending from oneend to the other. The side walls-are shown as taking the form of panelsfolded 011 diagonal lines zigzaging across the sheet or panel from oneend of the car body The method of folding or bending adopted serves todivide the face inner and outer sections are arranged at right angles tothe'plane'of the sh'eet'and zigzag across the side wall, from end toend, to transform the wall into a truss. i It will be seen that anentire side wall could be made of the single piece"whose"original'length would be equal to the final lengthlof the walljp lus an addedlength equalto the combined widths of the stiffening or reinforcingribs.

Endand sidewalls arev connected together by "suitably Hanging them sothat they will overlap and permit rivetedor other joints to b'e'made'.In'the arrangement shown, the side walls C 'and'D are provided at theirends witli'flanges 5 that extend over and en- 'g'age with comparativelynarrow marginal portions along'the endsof' the end walls. Since the ribsin the end w'alls'do'not vanish atthe ends of such walls the'materialbetweentheends of the ribs may be gradually raised, as indicated at 6 inFigs. 5 and 7; thus forming with'the end portions ofthe ribsconti'nuous'surfaces against -which the flanges 5 bear.

A light'floor -supporting frame may be arranged in the 'bottonfof theshell formed by the'end' and sidewalls. In the arrangementshown, thereis'a' frame 7 of angle iron {the frame having vertical flangesflying-against "the inner faces of the end-and side walls'fand rivetedor otherwise secured to such 'w'alls, and" having also inwardlydirected"horizontahflanges. Y Suit-able fioor stringers 8 extend longitudinallyof the body 'and are-si1pported on the horizontal flanges of 'theframe7. "Suitable'fiooring boards 9 "are laidon't'he stringers.

Around the top of-the car body is a cap or rim'flO' in the form of aninverted trough or channel having one'widesidewall and one "narrow'si'dewall. The long side wall fits "against the'innerfaces of the end andside jwalls of the body and isriveted or other- "wise'sec'ured tosuchwalls. The corners of th'e'cap or' rim-may be reinforced by means'of'sho'rt auxiliarycap sections 11 overlying thesame. v

If desired, the upper portions of the side "wall sections that lieoutwardly from an'd parallel with the" normal plane of the sheet may begradually bent inward, as indicated at 12, sothat a 'substantiallycontinuous rivetedjoint may be madebetween each side wallandithe'overlying cap or rim.

f It will be'seenthat the outer'triangula'r side wall sections 3, withthe corresponding webs 4, form posts increasing in width from the bottomtoward the top. If the lower ends of these posts can be rigidly heldthey will prevent any portion of the side walls from swinging out at thetop. I have therefore provicled.n1eans for rigidly anchoring thelowerendsof these posts to the cross beams on which the car body rests.These "beamsfof which two are shown at 13, are so;pla'ced'th'at-eachfliesw below the lower ends a simple andnovelgo'ndola car body from aifewli'ght and simple but extremely stifipanels, that is light metaljplates or metal sheets; making itpossible'to dispense with separatereinforcing means in the form ofstruts or the like. Therefore such a body, although strong and rugged,will be lightvin weight and may be manufactured at a low cost.

\Vhile I have illustrated and described with particularity only a singlepreferred form of my invention, I donot desire to'be limited to theexact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend tocover all forms and arrangements'which come within the definitions'of myinvention constituting the appended claims.

' 'I'c1aim:-

' 1. A framel-ess gondola car body-comprising end and side walls'of asingle thick- "ness composed of metali panels shaped to overlap at thefour corners, and the overlapping portions ofthe panels being securedtogether, the'endpanels being folded upon themselves to producestiifening*ribs,"' the side" panels being folded to produce thereinvertical stiffening ribs, stirrup's fixed tofthe lower ends of saidvertical ribsfandtransverse ffi'oor beams extending between jandsecured'to corresponding stirrups on-oppo site sides 'of thetbody.

" 2. A 'framel'ess .gon'dola car body comprisingend and sidewalls of asingleithickness' com-posed of 1 metal panels shaped to overlap at thefour corners, and the .overlapping portions of the panels being securedtogether, the end panels being folded upon themselves toiproducehorizontal stiffening ribs, the side panels. being folded to producevertical stiffening ribs, and said ribbed ipanels' being stiffenou'gh'to give to the car body "the required stiffness.

.cation.

3. A side wall of a gondola car body made of sheet metal folded uponitself to produce diagonal stiffening webs extending from the top to thebottom, adjacent webs being inclined in opposite directions to give atruss efiect to the wall.

4. A gondola car body having metal side walls folded to produce sectionsgenerally triangular in shape lying in parallel inner and outer planesspaced apart from each other and connected together by webs transverseto said planes, said sections being so disposed that sections with thenarrow ends at the top alternate with sections having their narrow endsat the bottom, transverse beams underneath the body in registration withthe latter narrow ends, and stirrups fixed to said beams and eachembracing and fixed to the adjacent webs and intervening flat portion ofthe corresponding side wall.

5. A frameless gondola car body comprising end and side walls of asingle thickness composed of metal panels, means for securing saidpanels together at the four corners, the end panels being folded uponthemselves to produce horizontal stiffening ribs, and the metal of thepanels forming the side walls being folded to produce diagonalstiffening webs extending from the top to the bottom, adjacent websbeing inclined in opposite directions to give a truss effect to the sidewalls.

6. A frameless gondola car body comprising end and side walls of asingle thickness composed of metal panels shaped to overlap at the fourcorners, and the overlapping portions of the panels being securedtogether, the end panels being folded upon themselves to producehorizontal stiffness and the side panels being folded to producevertical stiffness.

7 A frameless gondola car body having end and side walls made of metalpanels folded to produce stiffening means therein transverse to theirrespective planes, the ends of the side walls at each corner beingsecured to the marginal portions of the adjacent end walls.

8. A frameless gondola car bod comprising end and side walls composed ofmetal panels shaped to overlap and be secured together at the fourcorners, the end panels being folded upon themselves to producehorizontal stiffening means, the side panels being folded to producevertical stiffening means, stirrups fixed to the lower ends of saidvertical stiffening means, and transverse fioor beams extending betweenand secured to corresponding stirrups on opposite sides of the body.

In testimony whereof I sign this specifi- WILLIAM E. VAN DORN.

